FAQ

What is financial planning?

Financial planning is the process of discovering and understanding what you value most as well as understanding what resources you have available for your plan.

After identifying what is important to you, we create and implement a plan based on your resources and values.

I don’t live in the Colorado Springs area. Can I still work with you?

Yes, we work virtually, by video conference, with clients in several different states.

How are you paid?

We are compensated solely by our clients, through low, flat fees.

We do NOT get paid by selling products, charging a percentage of assets we manage, referral fees, or product “kick-backs”.

What can I expect during the consultation?

The initial consultation is a casual 30-45 minute meeting in person, over the phone, or via video conference. We will learn more about who you are and what you are looking for.

We will also share more about First Ascent Financial’s unique planning experience and share some useful resources.

At the end of the meeting you can let us know if you would like to move forward.

Do you have to manage my investments for me to work with you?

When we get to the investment management part of your financial plan, we will decide together:

Which accounts you want us to directly manage.

Which accounts you want us to provide analysis on.

Which accounts you want to manage on your own.

What does your typical client look like?

Our typical client has a strong desire to make values-based decisions on how they spend their time and money. They believe money is merely a tool that supports what is most important to them.

Most clients have contacted us because they have just experienced or are anticipating a major life event.

What is the investment process at First Ascent Financial?

We start with your financial goals, develop a timeline to accomplish your goals, and determine how much volatility (risk) you can withstand during that time-frame to meet your goals. Then we use various low-cost, low-turnover investments (i.e. ETFs and Mutual Funds) across the global economy to create a diverse portfolio and help to minimize your risk.

What is the investment philosophy of First Ascent Financial?

We believe that investment management is more of a theory and less of an exact science. We believe the most important part of investment management is picking a proven strategy and having the discipline to stick with it.

The proven investment strategy used is strategic asset allocation. We typically use passively-managed index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds for the building blocks of the portfolio. Then we add either actively-managed funds or a specific sector overweight where we believe there are greater opportunities to enhance the portfolio.

Portfolios are globally diversified across different asset classes. This strategy is based on Modern Portfolio Theory and we believe it will ultimately help our clients reach their goals while taking on appropriate and acceptable risks.